Whole house humidifier. Risks

speedster1

I bought a house that has a forced air furnace that has a whole house humidifer installed. The humidistat is turned off and I'm not using the humidifier. Yesterday I was talking to some friends that suggested I remove the humidifier if I'm not going to use it. Said that if you don't use them regularly and they sit dormant that they can potentially spread legionaires disease and other nasty bugs.

I took a closer look at the humidifier (American Made Drumatic from Skuttle), There appears to be standing water in the base of the unit. I take it from the design that water dropps onto the drum and rotates. Without being used I can see where this could get quite nasty and now I'm wondering if this really could be a danger to us. Should I have it removed or serviced? Are these units any good?

beenthere

Drum units are ok.

You could just turn the water off to it.

Might find its been adding humidity to the air after all.

Follow waterline to shut off valve.
Its probably a saddle valve. Be very careful closing it. Don't use too much force.